Consequences - Unofficial season six
by ThorfastTheBlack
Summary: After returning from a year in Japan, Emmett and Travis meet up with Bay and Daphne at the local mall. Bay and Travis have big news, Daphne and Emmett have a big secret, and Daphne has an even bigger secret of her own. Will she finally face the consequences of her actions or will someone bail her out?
1. Episode 1 Consequences -Chapter 1

**Authors Note:** As an ASL major who first started learning the language when this show was on, it's hard for me to forget it. Lately, I've been really missing Daphne, Bay, Emmett, and Travis and I thought they should come back for one final hurrah. As the title suggests, this is intended to be an unofficial sixth season of Switched At Birth. As such, this will be divided into episodes and each episode into chapters. I'll upload every chapter of each episode monthly. Thank you and Enjoy.

 **Obligatory Disclaimer:** Switched At Birth is the property of ABC Family, I do not claim ownership. Nor do I wish to encroach in any way on Lizzy Weiss's original work. This is only a fan project and a labor of love.

Daphne waded her way through the crowded shopping mall. A small pebble hit her foot and bounced off the tiles. She looked around to find the source of the pebble. Emmet stood behind a tall potted plant near a secluded area of the path. He waved at her, nudging his head towards the secluded area. She ran over to him and they slipped behind two pillars where no one could see them. "Are you crazy?" She signed.

"Maybe a little." He smiled.

"Somebody could have seen you! We could have been caught."

"Maybe I want to be caught." He raised his brow.

"Right, and explain _this_ to everyone. Your mom, Travis, Bay." Emmet blinked.

"Okay, you're right. Better to keep it a secret, for now." He sighed as he signed "now". Daphne met his eyes with hers.

"Just for now. We'll tell them eventually, now's just not a good time." Emmet grabbed her around the waist.

"You look beautiful!" He signed.

"Thanks, I really didn't try." She blushed.

"You are always beautiful." He smiled. "I-" She grabbed his hands before he could move them and kissed him. Emmet kissed her back, first slowly then quickly. He was kissing her neck when she felt both their phones vibrate. She tapped him on the arm and he looked up from his work, red hair draped over him.

"Phone." She signed. He pulled away and pulled his smartphone out of his pocket, she did the same. It was a text in the group chat from Bay.

"Daphne, Emmett? Where are you guys?" The text read. Daphne put her phone back and straightened her hair.

"Good?" She asked. Emmett smiled.

"Like I said, beautiful!" She gave him a playful shove and they emerged from the hiding place to find the other two. They eventually found Travis and Bay sitting at the edge of a fountain in the middle of the mall.

"Hey!" Bay signed gleefully. "Where have you two been?"

"I should ask the same." Emmett signed. "I haven't seen you since we landed!" He lightly punched Travis on the shoulder.

"Well…" Bay said. "That's kind of why we wanted to meet you guys here." She signed hesitantly. Daphne noticed something and put two and two together.

"Oh. My. GOD!" She said. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yep!" Bay raised her hand to show off her engagement ring.

"Oh my god, that's gorgeous!" Daphne grabbed her hand for a closer look.

"Nice!" Emmett looked at Travis.

"But you can't tell J and K. We were going to have everyone over for dinner tomorrow and announce it."

"Promise!" Daphne signed as both girls squee'd.

Meanwhile, at the Kennish house, John was in his office sitting at his desk. He slammed his fist on the polished desktop. "Damn thing won't work!" He shouted. His computer displayed a blue screen.

"Maybe you could call someone," Kathryn shouted from the adjacent room. John looked around. Daphne's laptop was on the dining room table.

"Looks like Daphne forgot her laptop. I'll just look it up on there." He replied. He opened a web browser and clicked on the search bar. Before he could type out his inquiry, a list of past searches came up. The top item caught his eye. "Abortion clinics near me" He was taken aback with shock. Why would Daphne need to know where an abortion clinic was? "Honey?" He called to his wife. "Could you come here?" Kathryn walked into the room folding a towel. "Look at what I found on our daughter's computer." There was a tone of anger in his voice. Kathryn read the list entry.

"Oh…" She clutched her chest. "Well, maybe it's for a friend."

"Something tells me it's not." John folded his arms. "We need to confront her about this. I mean, if it wasn't bad enough- With Toby it was one thing, but...this is entirely different!" He huffed.

"Calm down, John! What if you're wrong, huh?" She walked over to the chair facing John.

"Point taken, I suppose we need something more concrete." Katharine laughed.

"You're not saying we sift through her trash-" She paused. "I'll get the downstairs bathroom." She walked towards the bathroom.

"I'll look through the guest house." After a minute of rifling through a wastebasket, Kathryn realized how silly what she was doing was. John walked in the doorway.

"John, this is silly!" She turned to face him. "We should just respect her pri-" John held up a positive pregnancy test. Katharine grabbed her temples.

"Maybe-... Maybe it was Regina's, maybe it was just a false positive!"

"Regina's gone, Katharine. The only person to have stayed in that guest house for _four months_ is Daphne."

"Well- It still could be a false positive." John took two more from behind his back.

"All three of them?" Katharine sat on the edge of the tub in complete shock.

"What do we do?"

"I'm calling her home right now and we're going to have a talk." John stormed into the kitchen and forcefully took the phone off the hook.

"She's deaf, John." Katharine followed behind him.

"Right." He slammed down the landline. "Where the hell is that cell phone?" He aggressively patted his pockets. Kathryn grabbed the black rectangle off of the counter and handed it to him.

"Calmly, John. Remember? We'll all handle this like adults." She said as John furiously tapped his phone screen.


	2. E1C2

Meanwhile, at the mall, the four went and bought fro-yo to celebrate Bay and Travis' engagement. All except Daphne. "Are you sure?" Bay asked.

"No thanks. I'm just a little queasy." She grabbed her stomach.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah…" Daphne's eyes wandered. "It's probably something I ate earlier, I'll be fine."

"Suit yourself!" She said. Just then Daphne got a text, it was from John.

"I gotta go," She tapped bay on the shoulder. "I guess J and K wanna talk to me."

"Huh." Bay looked at the message. "I'll go with you, let the boys catch up." She told the two they were leaving then kissed Travis goodbye. The two girls drove over to the Kennish house. When they got inside, they were greeted by a very angry John Kennish.

"Hey, dad...what's up?" Bay furrowed her brow. John looked at Daphne.

"Sit." He firmly pointed to the couch. The two obeyed, unsure whom he was so upset with.

"What's going on?" Daphne asked.

"Honey," Katharine began in a gentle voice. "We know about the test."

"What test?" Daphne shifted nervously.

"The pregnancy test." John said, his lips tight. "This test." He slammed the stick on the table.

"You went through my trash!?" Daphne's eyes flashed to John.

"I was on the computer and I saw you'd looked up an abortion clinic." John explained, his hands had difficulty keeping up with his words.

"You still didn't have the right to do that!" Daphne yelled. Katharine chimed in.

"We know it was wrong, sweetie, but we had to make sure you were alright."

"I don't believe it…" John paced back and forth.

"I don't know why you're so mad, I'm taking care of it-" She began.

"NO!" John spun around to face her, lifting a finger for emphasis. "I'm not mad because you got pregnant, I'm just disappointed by that. I'm mad because you wanted to 'take care of it'! Ever since we found out about the switch, you have been avoiding the consequences of your actions. The senator, the Oxy, the construction site, well I've had enough, Daphne. I've had _enough_!" Tears began to well up in Daphne's eyes.

"I'm a college student," She signed. "Pre-med! How am I supposed to take care of a baby?"

"Well, if you can't handle a baby and school you can either give it up for adoption or drop out. But you are _not_ killing this baby so you can avoid responsibility." John stamped his foot.

"Woah, hold on-" Bay chimed in.

"I don't want to hear a word out of you, Bay. This is between Daphne, your mother, and I." John said.

"She shouldn't drop out of school!" Bay folded her arms.

"I said this isn't up to you, Bay!" John raised his voice. Bay backed down but Daphne gave her a look of gratitude.

"So what are we going to do?" Daphne asked.

"Well first," John picked up the phone off the desk. "You're going to call the clinic and cancel your appointment. Then, I'm gonna find this Mingo kid and break his legs."

"Mingo and I broke up." Daphne admitted. "He's not the father." A silence hung briefly in the room.

"Would you care to tell us who is?" John leaned against the desk, his arms folded and brow raised.

"...Emmett." She hesitated. Bay's eyes widened as she did a double take.

"Emmett Bledsoe?" John asked, his lips tightened again. Daphne nodded. Bay just stared at her dumbfounded. John shot up from the desk, grabbed his old baseball bat from the closet, swung open the front door and stormed out to the car.

"I'd- I'd better go follow him." Daphne said.

"Good idea, sweetie. I'll call the clinic for you." Katharine grabbed the phone. Daphne thanked her as she ran out after John.

At the Bledsoe house, Melody sat in her home office waiting by the video phone for her fiance to call. He was away on business but he said he'd call her the first chance he got. The lights flickered and she got up to answer the door. At the door was an angry John Kennish, and he was holding a bat. "John? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Where's Emmett?" He signed firmly.

"In back doing some yard work, why?" John shoved past her and into the yard. "John, what are you doing!?" She called after him. Emmett and Travis were in the backyard doing a favor for Melody. There was a small bush growing near the fence and she'd had enough of trimming it back. She wanted it gone and after the girls had left the mall, the two decided it was a perfect day to get it done. Suddenly, John shot out of the back door and came marching towards them. The two waved at him and asked what he was doing. John locked eyes with Emmett and Emmett understood. _Does he know about me and Daphne?_ He thought. _Why would he be this angry?_ As John got closer, Emmett took off running farther into the yard. John was old but he could still catch up with him. He pinned him against the fence. "We need to have a little chat." He growled. Emmett could feel his breath.

"What's wrong with you!? Emmett signed frantically. "Get off of me!" Daphne ran up behind them and tried to pry her dad from her now not-so-secret lover. Travis helped. John struggled against them.

"John Kennish," Melody marched towards them. "Explain yourself before I call the cops!" She ordered. John stopped resisting and the two let go of him.

"I think I should let your _son_ explain." John spat. Emmett looked between the three of them confused.

"I don't know! I just-" He started.

"I'm pregnant!" Daphne blurted out. The comotion halted. Melody's jaw dropped. Emmett stood there completely frozen. "I'm sorry." Daphne looked at Emmett. "I was going to tell you." Emmett stepped towards her.

"It's...mine?" His hands shook. Daphne nodded. John cleared his throat.

"Well uh…" He inhaled. "I'm sorry, I- I thought…" A thick silence fell on the backyard. Nobody was sure what to say. Finally, Melody raised her hands.

"I think we all have a lot to talk about. We should all get together and discuss this like adults but first- John, Daphne- I need to speak with my son." Travis raised his hand hesitantly "Alone." Melody clarified.

"Right!" Travis nodded. "I'm gonna go see Bay." He walked away.

"I'll meet you in the car." John said before following Travis out of the backyard. All that remained were Daphne, Melody, and a very pale Emmett.

"I'll give you two a moment alone." She sighed and went into the house. Emmett stared off into the distance, white as a sheet.

"Are you alright?" Daphne asked. "You don't look good."

"Fine." Emmett shaking hand tapped his chest. "How much?"

"I don't know, I need to make an appointment. Maybe...a couple weeks? Probably like four?" Emmett wretched and fell to his knees. "Hey! Are you sure you're alright?" Daphne caught him. Emmett shook his head. "It's alright, just sit down for a minute and breath." They sat down on the grass and he breathed with her until he was calm. Daphne's phone vibrated, it was John. "I have to go." She stood up. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out. Okay?" She helped him to his feet. He nodded.


	3. E1C3

The car ride was quiet, the only sound was the hum of the road. Daphne was used to quiet, she was Deaf, but this was a bad kind of quiet. "Could you just talk to me?" She turned to her dad. He stayed silent. "I'm sorry, okay?" She whined. "It was an accident!" Still nothing. "Please, say something! Yell at me, disown me, I don't care!" She begged. John pulled over on the side of the road. He sat quietly for a moment, then thrusted his fist into the steering wheel. "What am I gonna do with you, Daphne?" He said. "I always thought it would be Bay that was the problem child, and for a while she was. But now, this? This isn't like you!"

"I know," Daphne started crying. "I don't know how it happened! It was an accident!"

"It's just…" Tears began to well up in John's eyes as well. "How do you mess up this bad, sweetheart?"

"I'm sorry, okay? I don't know how I can make this better."

"You can't, honey." John shook his head. "None of us can."

Meanwhile, at the Bledsoe house, Emmett brushed himself off and went back inside. His mom stood in their kitchen, her lips pursed and her arms folded across her chest. "I had no idea!" Emmett signed apologetically.

"How did this happen?" Melody furrowed her brow. Emmett sat down at the kitchen table.

"I don't know!" He signed. "We must have-"

"I know _how_ it happened," She stopped him. "I want to know _when_ it happened." Emmett thought for a moment. His eyes widened with realization.

"The night you went to the airport with Gabe." He suddenly remembered.

It was late that night, Emmett was home alone watching football in their living room, Chiefs versus The Browns. The lights flickered and he went to the door. Daphne stood on their front step, her eyes were red and puffy. "Daphne? What's up?" Emmett signed.

"I need to talk to someone and I don't want to bug Bay because you and Travis just got back and it's their first night back together, and J and K are visiting Toby, Lily, and Carlton, and Regina-"

"Slow down!" He said. "Are you okay?" Daphne pulled out her phone and showed him a text conversation between her and Mingo. Emmett read it. "Seriously? He just up and left? No warning?" Daphne nodded, fighting back tears.

"He said we were getting 'too serious' and he needed to be free. What does that even mean?" She asked. "Was I holding him back?"

"No!' Emmett said. "Daphne, that guy's crazy. He doesn't know what he's leaving behind." Daphne smiled faintly, wiping away tears. "It's late. Why don't you come inside." Daphne followed him into the kitchen and they got to talking.

"Thanks, by the way. You're such a great guy, I'm sorry I never-" Daphne started.

"No, it's fine! After all, what are friends for?" He said.

"And I don't just mean letting me cry on your shoulder tonight. You've always been there for me since we were kids."

"Like I said, it's nothing."

"Nothing?" She signed. "You stood up for me when those kids were bullying me, you taught me ASL, your mom helped me get into Carlton… Emmett Bledsoe, I don't know where I'd be without you." They had drifted closer to each other, now standing less than an arms width apart. Suddenly, Emmett kissed her. It wasn't the first time, they'd kissed at least twice before. But this time it felt different. It felt...right.

"Sorry," Emmett pulled away. "I don't know what came over me."

"No, I liked it," Daphne admitted, looking into his silver-blue eyes. "Do it again."

"Okay!" Melody stomped, bringing Emmett back to the present. "I've heard enough. As I said, we'll figure out a time we can all come together and talk about this." She grabbed a sponge from the sink. "Just...go to your room. I'm going to...clean, or something."

John and Daphne went back to the house. Katharine informed her that she'd canceled her appointment. "So it looks like we're going through with this." Daphne muttered underneath her breath.

"What was that?" John scowled.

"Nothing." Daphne sunk into herself.

"You bet we're going through with this. No go and think about what you're going to do about school." He ordered. Daphne timidly nodded and slunk out of the room. "Man, what are we going to do with that kid?" John sighed, rubbing his chest.

"You alright, sweetie?" Katharine asked.

"Yeah, must have pulled something when I went to see Emmett. I'll be fine."

Daphne walked back to the guest house. On her way, she was struck by a wave of nausea. She barely made it inside before running to the kitchen sink and blowing chunks. She cleaned herself up and managed to make it up to her room. She flopped on her bed and groaned. She closed her eyes and waited for the sickness to pass then let out an exasperated sigh. What was she going to do? John was crazy if he thought she was going to raise it. _Emmett should have a say._ She thought. She knew it wasn't right that he didn't get one in her decision to abort. She'd figured what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, but this was his baby too. _Baby…_ She thought to herself, milling the word over in her head. She stood up and went to the mirror. Looking at herself in profile, she stuck out her stomach as far as she could. _OUR baby…_ She thought. This was their baby, in nine months it would be a fully formed baby with eyes and a nose and a mouth and fingers. _Fingers...hands…_ Would it be Deaf or hearing? Daphne wasn't born deaf but Emmett was, both his parents were as well. It was possible. It would learn sign language, either way, it would have to. It wouldn't stay a baby forever. Someday it would grow into a person, with ideas and beliefs and dreams, it would need to express those things to its family. Was she ready to be a mother? And what about Emmett? Did he even want kids? All of these thoughts started spinning in her head. She didn't have a choice anymore, neither of them did. It was so dizzying that again she felt sick rise up from her stomach and force it's way up her body. She ran to the nearest wastebasket. She curled up on the floor in, somewhat ironically, the fetal position. "What am I going to do about school?" She cried. There was a knock at her door. She forced her hysterics and her nausea back down and answered the door. It was Lily and Carlton.

"Hey!" She smiled. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," Daphne sniffed. "Sure."

"Toby and I just heard. How are you holding up?" She sat down on her bed, setting Carlton on the floor.

"I've been better." She laughed nervously.

"I'll bet! You remember what a wreck I was when I found out we were having Carlton."

"Yeah, I'm kind of in the same boat." She said. "Well, you had it worse than me I guess."

"Well...maybe." Lily tilted her head. "But everything you're feeling is both valid and justified."

"I'm just...scared, confused, and just unsure." Daphne sighed.

"Wow," She raised her brow. "That is some deja vu!" She placed a hand on Daphne's back. "So what are you going to do?"

"About school? I dunno, what do you think I should do?"

"Well, as your former teacher, I'd encourage you to continue your education. But as your friend and sister-in-law, I support you in whatever you decide to do but you have to make that decision yourself." She said. "But you've got time, don't sweat it." She reassured her.

"Thanks, Lily." Daphne smiled.

"You're very welcome." Lily smiled back. "Oh," She rose to her feet, picking up Carlton. "J and K wanted me to tell you, we're all having dinner this Saturday. As a family." Daphne nodded in acknowledgment and Lily left the room. She decided she would try to schedule a doctor's appointment before then. She looked up the number for the free clinic and dialed, the VRS interpreter appeared on her screen, gave his spiel, then connected her to the clinic. "Kansas City Medical, this is Cindy speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hi, this is Daphne Vasquez. I need to schedule an appointment for an ultrasound."

"Okay, are you pregnant?" The woman asked.

"Oh, yes, I am. That's- that's why I need the ultrasound." Daphne nervously popped her fingers.

"Alright, ma'am. How far along are you?"

"I don't know, maybe a couple weeks?"

"Okay, and will the father be with you."

"I…" Daphne thought for a moment. Was he? Did he want to?

"Ma'am?" The woman asked. "Are you still there?"

"Yes, I am. I'll have to get back to you on that one."

"That's alright ma'am, either way." There was a pause. "Alright, it looks like Dr. Everton is avalible around noon tomorrow. Does that work for you?"

"Yes, that's perfect."

"Alright! We'll see you then."

"Okay, thank you." Daphne said.

"Uh-huh, bye-bye." The call ended. She opened up her laptop to skype. There was one more call she had to make that night.

Emmett sat at his desk, still dumbfounded by the new. He wanted kids someday, sure. But not now! What about him and Daphne? He loved her, yes, but did they have enough love to share with a baby and still keep their relationship afloat. Daphne, what about her? She was going to abort without telling him. He was mad at first but he didn't see the point. She didn't and what was important now was that he be there for her. Before he could ponder any further, a notification appeared on his screen. It was a call from Daphne. "I love you." He answered. Daphne seemed taken aback by his words. "Before we say anything else I wanted to tell you that."

"I love you too, Emmett." Daphne signed. "I just called to tell you I scheduled a doctor's appointment for tomorrow at noon. Do you...want to come?" He asked timidly.

"Of course!" Emmett signed. "I'll come around on Ripley and pick you up."

"Okay!" Daphne smiled. "But maybe...that's the last time we ride on Ripley for awhile."

"Right. I can live with that!" Emmett nodded.

"Okay, see you at eleven thirty?"

"It's a date." Emmett said. They said goodbye to each other and Emmett was once again left alone with his thoughts. _A date…_ They hadn't been on many of those since that night.


	4. E1C4

Daphne waited on the porch for Emmett. The air was crisp. She had a scarf tied loosely around her neck to keep the chill away. She'd taken some motion sickness meds before she'd left the house, but her stomach was still uneasy. After only a minute's wait, she heard the revving of a motorcycle from down the street. Emmett pulled into the driveway as he had years ago when Daphne first met the Kennishes. "Ready?" He lifted the visor of his helmet. She nodded and hopped on behind him. Together they raced to the clinic. Once they arrived, the two walked into the waiting room. "You want to ask?" Emmett asked.

"I left my hearing aids at home, the battery's dead!" Daphne signed.

"It's fine!" Emmett replied. "Just use a pen and paper." Daphne fumbled around in her purse. Emmett pulled a small pad of paper and a pen from his jacket pocket. "Welcome to my world." Daphne stepped up to the desk and wrote on the paper.

"I'm here for my appointment with Dr. Everton. I brought my boyfriend. We're both Deaf." The woman read it. Then looked back up at them and froze. "Hello?" Daphne waved her hand in front of her. The woman reanimated and started talking. "I can't hear you!" Daphne said. "I'm Deaf." She saw the woman move her lips again. Emmett tapped her on the shoulder.

"I have an idea." He said. "I can speech read, you can speak. I'll sign what she's saying for you." (Authors note: This never happens in real life but Emmett seems to have a speech reading superpower.)

"Good idea." Daphne signed. She told the woman again that they were here for an appointment. Emmett watched her speak and then signed.

"Do you need an interpreter?" _They have an interpreter yet we're going through all this?!_ Daphne thought.

"Yes please." Daphne said. Again Emmett watched the woman and then relayed what she said.

"Okay, a nurse and interpreter will be right with you." The two of them sat down and waited. Daphne tapped her foot on the tiled floor. "You nervous?" Emmett asked.

"A little." She admitted.

"What do you think it's going to be?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know, a boy? I just hope it's okay and that there's only one of them."

"A boy, huh?" Emmett raised his brow. "I hope it's a girl."

"Why?" Daphne asked.

"Because I'm a boy, I know how boys work. Trust me, we're hard."

"You can say that again." Daphne rolled her eyes.

"Can I ask you something?"

'Shoot!" Daphne sat back in her chair.

"What do you want to do with it?"

"I don't know, give it up for adoption?" She shrugged. "What do you want to do?"

"I was thinking we would keep it." Emmett signed hesitantly.

"Are you crazy? Emmett, I'm going to medical school in a year! And you've been following Travis around Japan for a year."

"I know, but I can find work here." He said. "And you can still go to school, we'll find a way to manage!"

"I don't think you're grasping the full scope of how screwed we are, Emmett." She said. "We're going to have a baby. A small child that poops and cries and doesn't sleep! How can I stay in school while you get a job and take care of a baby all at once?"

"Like I said, we'll figure it out!" He huffed. "And besides, I don't want someone else raising my kid. I'm sorry but I don't!"

"Well, you know who raised someone else kid? My mom! And she did a damn good job at it." Daphne signed aggressively.

"Apparently it wasn't that great or we wouldn't be here."

"I can't believe you said that, take that back!"

"I'm just making an observation!" He threw his hands up.

"I can't believe you!" She huffed. "I can't believe I even asked you to come!"

"And I can't believe you didn't tell me you were getting an abortion!" The signs erupted from Emmett's body without thought. The both of them realized then the entire waiting room was staring at them. The nurse and interpreter were in the doorway.

"Are you two ready to begin?" The nurse asked.

"Yes. We are." Daphne signed firmly as she shot up from her seat.

They were lead into the exam room. Daphne was weighed and had blood drawn. "The doctor will be with you shortly." The nurse said before leaving the room. The room was silent. Doctor Everton walked inside.

"Good afternoon, Miss Vasquez. And this must be the proud papa!" He shook Emmett's hand. "Now, we'll get started here. I'm sure you're excited." He grabbed a tube of gel and squirted it onto the probe. "If you'll just lift up your shirt, please. This might be a little cold." She exposed her stomach and the doctor began to move the probe around. Daphne and Emmett watched the screen intently. A small blob appeared on the screen. "Well, it has a good heartbeat." The doctor announced. "I think you're around eight or nine weeks. A blood test will confirm."

"Can you tell if it's a boy or a girl." Emmett asked.

"Not quite yet, but the blood test should tell us that as well." He took a screenshot of the sonogram and the machine spat out a photograph. The put the probe away and turned off the machine. "You can get cleaned up now. I'll be back with the test results shortly." He left the room. Emmett took a picture of the sonogram with his phone. Daphne furrowed her brow.

"You know me," He said. "I take a picture of everything." Daphne laid back on the exam bed, closed her eyes, and smiled.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was thinking about abortion." Her smiled dropped. "To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to go through with it."

"I understand." Emmett nodded. "You were afraid, and that's okay. But you don't have to be afraid alone."

"Thanks." Daphne smiled again. "You sure you want to do this?"

"Yeah," He grabbed her hand. "I am." The doctor came back with a clipboard.

"Well, we have the results of the test. You're baby's healthy, you're about nine weeks along, and…" Daphne sat up.

"And?" She held tight onto Emmett's hand. They both watched the interpreter intently.

"We believe it's a girl." The doctor said. The interpreter signed "girl" and Emmett's jaw dropped.

"That's fantastic!" Daphne said. "Thank you, so much!"

"You're very welcome." The doctor smiled. "Congratulations to you both." The two thanked the doctor again and left.

Outside the clinic, Emmett was about to put on his helmet when Daphne got his attention. "Hey, are you okay? You haven't said a word."

"Sorry," Emmett blinked. "I'm just...I'm kind of in shock. Like when you told me, I believed you, but it didn't feel real." He held up the sonogram. "But now we have this, now we know it's a girl, now it feels real."

"It is." Daphne nodded. "We're going to have a daughter."

"How do you feel?" He asked.

"Scared, excited, not at all ready but...optimistic."

"Same here." Emmett smiled. "Are you ready for dinner tomorrow?"

"Ooh, that...I think I'm more scared of that then I am anything else." Daphne sighed.

"Same here!" Emmett Smiled again. He brought her in closer and hugged her deeply. The two then got on his bike and raced out of the hospital parking lot.

The following day came and with it, the dreaded dinner. Lily, the only animating force in this situation, had come to Daphne the night before with an idea to make a "gender reveal cake" for dessert. "I'll be fun!" She argued. "If it's a boy the inside will be blue and if it's a girl the inside will be pink. A _sweet_ little surprise for everyone." Daphne was not amused.

"I think the last thing this family needs is another surprise." She rolled her eyes. Lily gave her a pleading look. "But, if you insist, we'll make the damn cake!" She threw up her arms. "It's not like it's my baby or anything." She muttered under her breath. Lily went to the store and bought all the ingredients including both pink and blue food coloring. Daphne was already in the kitchen, deciding what they were going to eat as the actual meal. Kathryn had offered to make dinner but Daphne insisted she would. She thought it would remind everyone she was independent and capable, which would make it easier to tell them her and Emmett's decision. Her sniffer was working on overdrive, though, and she couldn't begin to think about food until she cleaned out the fridge.

She pinched her nose as she dumped something in a Tupperware bowl that had long since seen it's prime down the sink. Bay walked in, not saying a word. Daphne rinsed out the bowl, put it in the dishwasher and turned around to face her sister. They hadn't spoken since Bay found out about the pregnancy. "Hey," Daphne said. "Which sounds better, chicken tacos or stew?"

"Up to you." Bay shrugged, flipping through a magazine inattentively.

"Hey, what's been up with you?" Daphne walked over to the island. "You haven't said a word to me for like three days!"

"Nothing's wrong, I've just-" Bay turned her back to her, pretending to check her phone.

"Hey! You know I can't understand you when you back's turned." Daphne's brow furrowed.

"Oh really?" Bay spun around. "Now you care about communication, huh? Well, maybe you should have considered that sooner. Maybe you should have communicated like, I don't know, that you were sleeping with my ex!?" Bay crossed her arms.

"Why do you care?" She took a defensive stance. "You and Emmett broke up years ago! You're with Travis now." Bay scoffed.

"It's not about that." Her lips tightened. "It's that you didn't tell me."

"I'm sorry, okay? Mingo broke up with me and I was upset. It was an accident! How many times do I have to say that!"

"You could have called me, Regina, Iris, Natalie, anyone! Hell, you could have even called Emmett, it doesn't mean you had to screw him!" She yelled.

"You know what, Bay?" Daphne yelled back. "We're in love, okay? Emmett and I are in love. I've loved him for fourteen years but I was too stupid to see it, and if _you_ hadn't gotten in the way…"

"Don't you start." Bay growled. Before the argument could continue, Lily walked in with bags of cake ingredients. Daphne and Bay were now standing face to face, almost at each other's throats.

"Girls!" She dropped the bags and ran over to them. "What's going on here?"

"Bay's a jealous bitch and she can't get over Emmett!" Daphne spat.

"Daphne!" Lily gasped.

"Not true! I'm totally over Emmett, I'm just upset you didn't tell me!" Bay said.

"Well, I said I'm sorry. What else do you want me to do, huh? Why should you be all worked up about it, you don't have to carry around his kid! Just admit it, Bay, you're still in love with him." Toby and Travis came inside from the garage to see what the commotion was. Travis entered into the kitchen just in time to see Daphne sign "You're still in love with him".

"Is that true?" He walked over to his fiancee.

"N- No…" Bay calmy signed. "Of course not. Honey," She took Travis's hand in hers. "You know that's not true." Travis grimaced as he looked at her, trying to believe her. Lily tapped him on the shoulder.

"Alright," She told everyone. "Well, that was exciting. Now, if you all don't mind, Daphne and I have a cake to make." Bay, Daphne, Travis, and Toby looked at her silently. "So out! Everyone, out! You heard me!" She ushered everyone out of the house. Daphne attempted to sneak out with the rest. "Not you, missy. Get back in here!" She shepherded the Deaf girl back into the house and shut the door. "Now that that's out of the way..." She let out a heavy sigh.

"I think that's just a preview of what's to come." Daphne looked at her sister-in-law with large frightened eyes.

"Nonsense!" She waved. "She was just getting it out of her system." Lily got to work taking all the cake ingredients out of her shopping bag. She turned around. "Alright, now," She softly grabbed hold of Daphne's shoulders. "-Quietly, in case someone's listening-" She looked up to the ceiling, remembering a lack of John and Kathryn in the fight that happened moments ago. "Is it a boy or a girl?" Her British accent was thick, Daphne sometimes had trouble speech reading her. But she could guess what she'd asked.

"Girl." She whispered. A smile crept across her face. Lily squealed with excitement which made her smile bigger. She didn't know why but all week Lily had been trying to cheer everyone up and it was working. Her excitement was contagious.

Lily gave her the expected congratulation and then they divided the work between them. Lily would bake, Daphne would decorate. They talk about a lot while they worked. Motherhood, Carlton, school. "Do you think Bay was being unreasonable?" Daphne said as she drew blue and pink question marks over the white frosting background.

"I don't want to get in the middle of you girls," Lily began. "But… It is odd she'd be this upset."

"Right!? It's not like she's the only one I didn't tell. We hid it from everyone. We didn't want to deal with the drama! It wasn't until-" She placed a floury hand on her apron over her stomach. "This girl surprised us, that I even considered it." She dotted the last question mark.

"There!" They stepped back to asses their work. It was a layer cake with white frosting on the outside. The middle layer crumb had been dyed pink and the outside was decorated with pink and blue edges and question marks. "I don't think we did half bad!" Lily commented.

"Looks good to me, let's get it in the fridge until later tonight." Daphne said.

Daphne went to see Travis, who was practicing his throw in the backyard. "Hey," She got his attention. "What I said back there, I didn't mean it. It was just in the heat of the moment."

"I know." He shifted the baseball from one hand to another.

"You guys are great together." Daphne said. "She really does love you, you know."

"Does she love Emmett, though?" Travis pursed his lips.

"Like," Daphne paused. "I'm sure she does. But she's in love with you! Besides, Emmett is with me now."

"That doesn't change anything." Travis went back to throwing the ball. "You were in love with Emmett when he and Bay were together." He pointed out. Realizing she was only making things worse, Daphne placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," She looked him in the eye. "I don't want you to ruin your engagement because a crazy pregnant lady said something stupid in a fight with her sister." Travis curled his lower lip and exhaled, saying nothing. Toby came up to them from inside.

"Hey, dinner's ready." He nodded over his shoulder. "Let's go." Travis went inside to sit. Daphne followed behind but was stopped at the door by Toby. "Are you going to be okay." He asked his sister.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Me and Emmett talked, and we've made our decision." She pushed her hair out of her face.

"Well, I know how hard of a decision that is to make, so whatever you decided I'll stand by you guys one-hundred percent."

"Thanks, Toby." She smiled faintly. Toby brought her into a hug.

"After all," He said into her working hearing aid. "You're my little sister too."


	5. E1C5

Toby and Daphne went into the dining room and took their seat at the table. Toby sat with Lily, Travis and Bay sat across from Emmett, Emmett and Daphne sat next to Melody. Lily sat at the end of the table between her husband and Melody and across from Kathryn. John sat to Kathryn's right side and across from Bay and Regina sat across from Daphne. The table had been set with good china, candles, and a floral centerpiece. _A lovely arena for the gruesome battle about to take place._ Daphne thought. "Daphne," John spoke up. "Would you like to catch everyone up to speed before our food gets cold?"

"Uh…" Daphne swallowed hard. The words got stuck in her throat. She looked at Regina, she hadn't seen her since school ended.

"What is it, sweetie?" Her mom said.

"I'm pregnant." The words fell out of her mouth. Regina's jaw dropped. She stared at her with a look of shock and disappointment.

"I'm sorry, what?" She picked her jaw off the floor and furrowed her brow.

"Daphne and I are-" Emmett began.

"Stay out of this!" Regina snapped. "H- How could this have happened? When? When did this happen!?"

"About nine weeks ago, give or take." Daphne slouched down in her chair, making herself small.

"Well, what are you going to do. Have you considered-" She looked around. "Terminating?"

"She's not getting an abortion." John said. "We've made that clear."

"Excuse me," Regina turned to the former baseball star. "It's not up to you what my daughter does with her body!"

"Actually, she's my daughter!" John smiled back at her. "And it's not her body we're talking about."

"We're keeping it." Daphne declared before things got ugly. "Emmett and I are going to raise it, as our child."

"Oh no!" Melody shook her head. "I don't like that at all."

"Mom!" Emmett signed.

"Have you thought about what this means? About your careers? Emmett, how are you going to pay for a baby? And Daphne, you're future's so bright. A Deaf neurosurgeon! It makes me proud to just think about it."

"Maybe they have thought about it, maybe they shouldn't live their lives based on other's expectations of what they should do!" Toby said.

"Well," Melody turned to the young father. "I just want better for _my_ son!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Toby sat up.

"Nothing, nevermind." Melody raised her hands. "So what are you going to do about school?" Before either one of them could speak, Kathryn chimed in.

"Well I think she should take a break to raise the baby, go back when she's older."

"What are you on about!?" Lily interjected. "You can't just take a break for several years and start back up where you left off. Med school doesn't work like that!"

"So what do you think, Mrs. Kennish?" She asked in a mocking tone.

"Well, Emmett's not going to school right now so I think he should stay home to raise the baby. It makes sense!"

"Well studies show-" Kathryn started.

"Oh don't give me a study, this is real life! It's what's practical!" Lily scoffed.

"We-" Emmett chimed in. "Haven't decided yet. But we have time!" The room fell silent for a moment. The family picked at their food in a tense pause.

"Travis and I are engaged." Bay blurted out. Everyone looked towards her in surprise, except the three that were at the mall.

"Really?" John asked. "A wedding, already?" John sipped his water. "I just don't know if its a good time right now, honey. And are you sure you two are ready for that kind of commitment? What has it been, a year? A year that you've both spent on separate continents."

"We've known each other for a lot longer than that. Plus we skype every night, and trust me dad, we're ready." She explained. "We can have a small ceremony so it won't be too expensive."

"Even a small ceremony is pretty expensive, sweetheart." John sighed. "Plus with Emmett and Bay's bab- oops!" John caught his slip. "Uh, sorry about that. I meant Emmett and Daphne's baby. I just always thought, I'd be saying that differently." Travis glared at Emmett, John's freudian slip stung as it hit him. They had so much history together, how could he ever contend with that. She probably didn't even really love him, nobody did. He didn't deserve it anyway. He sat in disgust imagining the two of them together. He shot up from his seat.

"It doesn't matter!" He spoke. "The weddings off!" He signed "canceled" so hard it hurt his hand. He stormed off out of the dining room and out to his car.

"I better go talk to him." Bay sighed as she got up from the table as well. John then got up.

"I need some air!" He walked out of the room holding his chest.

"I need to go pick up will." Regina placed her napkin on her plate after checking the time.

"I have laundry in the wash." Melody said before leaving as well. Katharin began cleaning up after everyone.

"Wait-" Lily reached out for each fleeing guest. "Wait but- We have cake!" Everyone ignored her reminder. "Guys, there's still the….cake." She began to get more quiet and deflated in her attempt at corralling everyone back to the table. "We worked hard on it." She frowned. Daphne, Emmett, Toby, and herself were the only ones that remained at the table. She shrugged and cut the cake open herself. "It's a girl, yay." She cheered quietly and unenthusiastically.

"Travis, wait!" Bay called after her fiance despite him being Deaf. "Hey!" She grabbed onto shirt.

"What?" He spun around to face her.

"What the hell was that back there?" She asked.

"Look, maybe your dad's right. Maybe we're not ready for this!" He continued walking.

"What makes you say that?" She ran to catch up to him.

"You know." He shrugged her off.

"Is this seriously about Emmett? Look, Travis," She placed a hand on his chest to stop him. "Emmett and I are way, way over with. I'm not in love with him, okay? I'm in love with you!" She reasured him,

"Look at me and tell me that!" He signed angrily "Look me in the eyes, Bay, and tell me you don't have any feelings for him." He stood there silently waiting for Bay to respond. She stammered for a moment, unable to express what she wanted to say. "That's what I thought." Travis unlocked his car, got inside, and drove off. Bay tried to get him to come back but it was no use. She fought off crying and went back inside. Without saying a word, she went into her old bedroom and collapsed on the bed. _What's happening to this family?_ She thought. Everything was going well finally, her and Travis were getting married, Daphne was going to be a surgeon, J and K were happy, Toby and Lily were happy. But now, she was lying in a puddle of everyone's misery. Daphne was in the kitchen helping Kathryn clean up. She was washing her plate in the sink when Emmett came up behind her, touching her lightly on the shoulders.

"Sorry tonight didn't go well." He signed.

"It's okay." She shrugged. "I wasn't expecting it to go smoothly." She flicked the water off her hands and turned around to embrace her boyfriend. "Though I gotta say, I wasn't expecting it to blow up so spectacularly either." She smiled.

"Yeah, there were definitly some fireworks!" He nodded. "Did you see Toby? He really stood up for us."

"Seriously!" Her eyes widened. "Well, it's nice to know we're not completely alone in this." Emmett nodded.

"Hey...Could I stay here for the night? I don't really want to see how my mom took that exchange." He asked sheepishly.

"Sure, you can stay with me in the guest house. I mean you already got me pregnant, what could happen?" She gave him a playful smile.

"Do you want to find out?" He smirked. She brought him in closer for a kiss.

"Oh my god!" Kathryn screamed from the other room. Daphne and Emmett gave each other a worried glance before running in to see what happened. The entered the living room to find Kathryn on the phone, Toby ran in as well.

"Toby," Daphne said. "What's she saying?" She hung up the phone and put her face in her hands.

"Mom," Toby walked over to the couch where sat the very distraught mother Kennish. "What's wrong?"

"It's your father…" She choked. "He…He…" She started to sob "He had another heart attack at the wheel and had a car accident!" Toby eyes widened.

"Toby!" Daphne said. "What's going on? What happened?"

"Dad got in a car accident." He explained. Daphne's hand shot up to her mouth.

"Oh my god, is he alright?"

"The doctors say…" Kathryn gasped between sobs. "He's in critical condition!"

"I- I'll get the car!" Toby said shakily.

"No!" Emmett insisted. "I'll drive you guys. You go tell your wife and son."

"Thanks, man." Toby nodded and handed him his keys. Daphne and Emmett helped Kathryn out to the car and once Bay and Toby join them, they took off for the hospital.


	6. Episode 2 On Your Feet -Chapter 1

**Authors Note:** Oh, hello there! You may have noticed, much like Daphne, I am very late. (Lame joke is lame) In light of this, I've decided to change the way I upload this. Instead of releasing an episode every month as I'd originally planned, I'll be releasing a new chapter weekly. (Every Monday, fingers crossed) This gives me time to write even when I'm stuck or personal problems arise. Deepest apologies for not meeting my initial goal but you have my word I'll stick to this new schedule, I already have a backlog. I hope you enjoy!

John was driving down a highway listening to 80's rock. All he could think about was what had transpired at dinner. One daughter was suddenly having a baby and the other was suddenly getting married, or at least he thought that was still the plan. It wasn't supposed to happen like this, not this fast. He was already a grandfather, this was true, and one of his children was already married but this was different. This was his little girls. When did they grow up so fast and how could either of them think they were ready for these enormous life changes? Suddenly John felt a sharp pain in his chest. He'd had it all day but now this time it nearly knocked the wind out of him. He tried to breathe through it, focusing on the road. His arm began to tingle and before too long he'd lost control of the wheel. He veered into the other lane and nearly hit a car before it swerved out of the way, screeching to a halt. John continued off the side of the road, coasting down the side of a hill before hitting a tree and being ejected from his seat. Everything faded to black as he heard the people on the road get out of their car.

John woke up under the soft press of his blankets, the morning rays piercing into his bedroom. "Katie!" He heard Kathryn call from the kitchen. "You're gonna be late!" With a sigh, John rose out of bed. He grabbed his smartwatch from the bedside table, it displayed the date 8/19/2030. John got on his feet, got dressed, and headed into the kitchen.

"Good morning, sweetie!" He smiled as he kissed his wife. Kathryn packed a PB&J sandwich into a brown paper bag.

"Good morning to you too!" She smiled back. "Katie, come on!" She shouted upstairs. A little girl with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes slowly made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"I heard you the first time, Grandma!" She snapped.

"Woah, young lady!" John held out his hands. "You don't talk to your grandmother like that." Katie rolled her eyes. "I mean it! Say you're sorry."

"Sorry, Grandma." She said in a dramatic tone. Daphne came inside from the guest house, her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore teal scrubs.

"Alright, kiddo." She grabbed a beagle from the counter. "You all ready?"

"Uh…" Katie looked around the room. "Yeah, I think so." She nodded.

"What about your bag?" Kathryn asked. Katie's eyes widened and she ran into the other room and grabbed a pink Barbie backpack.

"Okay, now I have everything." She said. "Oh! Hey mom? Do you think I could take taekwondo? They're offering lessons at the school."

"Err…" Daphne bit her lip. She bent down to be eye level with her daughter. "You know who you should ask about that? Grandpa!" Katie looked up at John with bright green puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." He explained. "Things are really tight right now, I don't think we can afford it this year."

"Ugh!" Katie screamed. "You never get me anything I want!" She stomped. "You're all the worst and I hate you! I want to go live with Dad." She stormed outside to the car. Daphne turned to J and K.

"Please!?" She clasped her hands. "Emmett's supposed to be giving me child support at the end of the month, I promise I'll pay you back!"

"Honey," John rubbed his forehead. "We're almost in the poorhouse. We've got bills, we can't wait for the end of the month." He admitted.

"If Emmett has the money," Kathryn began. "Maybe you could ask him to pay for the lessons."

"No." She grimaced. "I don't want to talk to him after what happened last month."

"Well, the courts decided he was paying too much!" John said. "It's not like he can help that."

"He can give me the money that he owes me for his kid that I'm raising!" She spat.

"That's enough, Daphne!" John said. "First of all, you could have had shared custody but you fought him. Secondly, 'the kid you're raising'? You're hardly ever home!"

"You know what? Fine! If you don't want to help me maybe Regina will!" She stormed off as well. Kathryn rested her elbows on the counters and began to cry into her hands.

"Damnit, John. Did you have to go and do that? We just got her back." She scolded him.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this." John shook his head. "This is...this is a nightmare!"

Suddenly, John woke up in a hospital bed. Kathryn and a doctor were at either side of him. "Wh-..." He said weakly. "What happened."

"It appears, Mr. Kennish," The doctor began. "That you had a heart attack at the wheel."

"It's okay, honey!" Kathryn said. "It's going to be okay!"

"How bad was it?" He strained to speak.

"Well, you broke a few bones, including your spine and a few ribs. You're lucky to be alive, Mr. Kennish. If someone hadn't have reported the accident…" The doctor trailed off. Bay ran over from the doorway.  
"Daddy!" She hugged him gingerly. It had been years since she called him that. Daphne stood by the doorway, hesitant to enter the room.

"Daphne…" With a weak hand, he beckoned her to him. She sheepishly walked over.

"Yeah, Dad?" She asked.

"When I get out of here." He strained. "I want you out of that guest house!" He whispered into her ear. She pulled back and shot him a look both hurt and confused. Was he mad at her? Did he blame her for his heart attack? The doctor interrupted her train of thought.

"Mr. Kennish," He said. "We have a few tests we need to perform."

"Alright," John said. "What do ya got?" The doctor pulled back the blanket to reveal John's legs.

"We're just gonna do a quick peripheral response test, see where we're at." The doctor pulled out a small stick. "Okay, just tell me if you can feel that." He ran the stick along the bottom of John's foot. John shook his head. "Alright, how about this?" He did the same to the other foot. Again, John shook his head. "Well, what about this?" He moved up to his shins.

"Yeah, right there." John nodded. "I felt that one. Uh- A tingle."

"Alright, on a scale from one to ten? Ten being your usual level of feeling and one being no feeling at all."

"Oh, I don't know…" John thought for a minute. "Four?"

"Okay, four. Okay…" The doctor muttered. "And how 'bout…there?" He ran the stick across his other leg.

"Yeah, definitely!" He nodded. "A six."

"And…" He moved the stick elsewhere on the opposite leg and repeated the motion.

"Not- not really. Maybe a three?"

"Okay, a three." The doctor put away the probe and wrote on his clipboard. "Alright! Thank you, John. That was very good."

"Is everything alright?" Kathryn asked. "That- That's good right?"

"Oh yeah, definitely!" The doctor said optimistically. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "It looks like some nerve function is returning, and remarkably fast I have to say."

"That's great!" Kathryn cheered. "So, when can we get him walking again?" The doctor's smile dropped. He looked at John, then at the clipboard, then back at John.

He took Kathryn, Toby, and the girls into his office where they sat down to discuss John's recovery. "Kathryn," He took off his glasses and set them on the desk. "It's important that we manage our expectations. We're talking about months of very hard work and even then, the odds…" He paused. "They're not great!"

"But you can't know for sure?" Kathryn asked.

"No." The doctor leaned forward in his chair.

"What about physical therapy?" Bay asked.

"Well," The doctor said. "It'll be costly. I can refer you to a colleague, he's one of the best. You'd have to talk to billing for the details, but I'm sure we could start...next week?"

"That's not good enough." Daphne chimed in. "The sooner he starts, the better chance he has at recovering, right?"

"Yes, Ms...Vasquez." He began. "That's correct. But to start right away, that's very expensive."

"We'll pay." Kathryn said. "However much, we'll pay." They continued to discuss the details of his treatment. Daphne couldn't stay any longer, she couldn't stand sitting in that hospital for another second. She felt horrible, she felt like this was all her fault. She said goodbye to everyone before going to collect Emmett. She walked through the tiled hallway to the waiting room. She passed by the exam room where they'd found out they were having a girl. Such a happy memory, now almost tainted. Emmett sat in a chair across the room from Travis. When he saw Daphne, he stood up. "Hey, what's up?" He asked.

"Everything's alright. He has some nerve damage in his legs, they're talking about recovery right now. Come on, I want to go home." She nodded to the door. "I'm tired."

"Okay," Emmett pulled out his phone. "We'll call an uber back to your place and-" Daphne waved her hand.

"Not my place. John said he wants me out of there."

"What!? Why?" Emmett's brow furrowed.

"I don't know," She shook her head. "But I don't think we're in a position to argue."

"Alright, we'll go back to my house, see if my mom will let you at least spend the night." Emmett tapped on his phone. Soon an Uber arrived and they went to the Bledsoe house.

It was late when they arrived. Emmett opened the front door and together they walked to the kitchen. Regina and Melody sat at the kitchen table, talking over a cup of coffee. "Hey, Mom… What are you doing here?" Daphne signed.

"I figured you'd be around here after what happened." Regina sipped her coffee. "I wanted to ask how John's doing and apologize for earlier. Honey, I support you in whatever you decided. It's just...hard to believe I'm gonna be a grandma."

"I know. I forgive you, Mom." Daphne sat down. "John's doing alright. He injured his spine and needs to learn to walk again, but he's still breathing.

"Well, that's good to hear." Melody signed. "Why did you both come back here? Daphne, wouldn't you want to stay with your family at the hospital?"

"I...couldn't really stay there. It's just too much." She explained. "Plus like, hospitals are dirty and I can't be getting sick right now."

"That's true." Melody nodded. "But why didn't you go home? I'm sure you want to rest."

"Well..about that. I sort of got...kicked out?"

"What!?" Regina set her cup down. "John doesn't blame you for what happened does he?"

"I don't know. I just don't want to fight him on it. I already felt like I let him down, and now…"

"Well, where are you going to stay?" Melody asked. "You can stay here for now, but not forever!"

"We'll find a place." Emmett leaned against the back of Daphne's chair. He pulled out a newspaper clipping. "I saw this earlier, there's an apartment for rent in East Riverside."

"Well, how are you going to get the money?" Melody asked. "I'm in no position to help, neither is Regina."

"I'll get a job." Emmett explained. "There's a mechanics shop down the street from the place looking for people who can fix bikes. I've been fixing Ripley for years. It'll be a piece of cake!"

"Okay, that's still not a lot. Rent maybe, but utilities?"

"I can get a job." Daphne spoke up. "They say you can work up to a week before labor, right? Plus, Mom, aren't you still looking for a barista at the Cracked Mug?"

"Yeah, but honey, you'd only be making about eleven dollars an hour. And that's a lot of time on your feet, are you sure you want to do that?"

"Totally, if it gets to be too much, I'll find a desk job." She said. "After all, I worked for John for months before-" She stopped.

"Before you tried to blackmail a senator." Melody said. "Great job history!"

"Please, mom?" Daphne turned to Regina, ignoring Melody's comment. "Can I have the job?"

"Well…" Regina paused. "You'll have to submit an application like everyone else."  
"Thanks, Mom!" She jumped up and hugged her. "You won't regret this, I promise." She pulled away and walked over to Emmett. "Anyways, I'm pretty tired. Any place I can turn in?" She asked.

"We have a guest bedroom down the hall and to the right." Melody explain.

"Or…" Emmett signed.

"Or, you could stay in Emmett's room." She rolled her eyes. "Besides, what more damage could you do?" She signed before sipping her coffee.


	7. E2C2

A few weeks passed in the Bledsoe house and Emmett had been hired at the mechanics. He worked a regular shift from nine to five, Monday to Saturday. One morning, Daphne woke up to Emmett tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey, my Mom made breakfast. Come on!" She sat up with a groan.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"About eight in the morning." Emmett grabbed the clock from the bedside.

"Too early!" Daphne groaned as she flopped back onto her pillow.

"Come on, it's your favorite!" Emmett urged her. Daphne pulled the covers over her head.

"Can't hear you!" She stuck her hands out to sign. Emmett ripped the covers off the bed. For a moment Daphne sprawled like a fish out of water, the cold harsh on her skin.

"Asshole!" She signed hard on her chest. "Fine, fine! I'm up!" She pulled herself out of bed. Emmett stood in front of the doorway.

"Where do you think you're going?" He smiled.

"To eat breakfast, like you told me to." She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it looks like there's a toll." He signed.

"Oh yeah," She humored him. "And what's that?"

"A kiss!" He leaned in to kiss her. She paid the arbitrary toll and kissed him back. He placed a hand on the small rise under her shirt and smiled. "I still can't believe it."

"Same." Daphne signed. The two of them went down to the kitchen where Melody had laid out bacon and eggs for the three of them. Melody saw them entering the room and notice the small bulge beneath her blue t-shirt.

"Look at you!" She quirked. "You've popped." Daphne smiled faintly and nodded.

"Wow, thanks for this!" She looked at the table. "Where's Gabe?"

"Oh, it's nothing." She waved. "Gabe had to leave early for work today but he told me to wish you luck on your interview."

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Daphne sat down and started cutting her eggs. "It's with Regina after all."

"I don't know… Regina's probably not going to go easy on you just cause you're her daughter, you know."

"Well," Daphne took a bite. "We'll see."

After Dinner, Melody went to work and Daphne thought she should probably dress up for the interview. She put on the nicest clothes she brought with her and examined herself in the mirror. Emmett came up behind her. He was wearing a blue jumpsuit with his name and his employer's logo stitched into it. "You look beautiful." He signed.

"I feel fat." She replied, tugging at the bottom of her shirt.

"You're glowing." He smiled.

"I'm greasy." She turned around. "What if you're mom's right? What if I don't get the job?" She asked.

"It'll be fine!" He held her. "She's your mom, she wouldn't do that to you. She might scare you a little but I'm sure she'll come around.

"Thanks." She smiled and kissed him. His phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

"I gotta go to work now." He checked his phone before putting it back. "I can take you to the Cracked Mug on my way."

"Sure!" Daphne said as they left.

Regina sat at one of the tables in her cafe, watching the clock. _Late._ She thought. Of course, she was late. How did she think she was responsible enough for this? Just then, Daphne came through the door. "Hey!" She sat opposite of her mother and placed her bag on the ground beside her.

"You're late." Regina said firmly.

"Yeah, by like five minutes!" Daphne turned to look at the clock. "There was traffic, I don't want Emmett riding Ripley anymore, sorry!"

"You could have called ahead."

"Mom, it was five minutes!"

"My time here is valuable, Ms. Vasquez, and I don't appreciate being spoken to in that tone!"

"Mom, are we seriously going to do this?" Regina picked up her pen and went to write in a notebook. "Okay! I'm sorry, can we get on with the interview? I really need this job."

"Alright, well I've read your resume and it says you're a pre-med student, that's good, you've worked for at your father's car wash and you were an intern for the state senate. But I checked and it says that you were fired prematurely, why is that?" She furrowed her brow, feigning a genuine question.

"B-...Because I tried to blackmail a senator." She said hesitantly. "Which I served community service at a clinic for doing. That's where I decided I wanted to go to school to study medicine."

"Hmm," Regina scribbled something in her notebook. "I see. It also says here you worked at Maize Restaurant for a time before being fired as well."

"Oh well, that time I got into a relationship with my boss. Trust me, lesson learned! Won't happen again!" She smiled nervously. Regina nodded and scribbled again in her notebook. Daphne popped her fingers as she waited for more questions.

"Ms. Vasquez, is there a job you haven't been fired from?" Regina finally asked.

"Kennish Car Wash?" She again smiled nervously.

"Well, Ms. Vasquez, I'm sorry but I think we'll have to go in a different direction." With a sigh, Regina began to pack up her things.

"What!?" Daphne's eyes widened. "Wait, no! You can't please! I need this job!" She begged.

"I'm sorry but we're just not interested." She threw a satchel over her shoulder and stood up.

"Please! I swear I'll do everything I can not to screw this up! I can be committed. I was on my high school basketball team right up until the program was canceled. I found and lead the Occupy Carlton protest! I help start up the Carlton field hockey team! I can be committed, and hard-working, and-"

"Which is why I'm giving you the job." Regina said.

"Sure, I've screwed up in the past. Hell, I just screwed up big time but I'm going to be a mother and John's in the hospital and it's all my fault and I just really, really need this job." Daphne started to cry.

"Honey!" Regina got the attention of her sobbing daughter. "You got the job."

"Really?" She inhaled sharply as she shot up from her seat. "Thank you! Thank you, I promise I won't let you down."

"I know you won't, sweetheart. I had to show you what it would be like anywhere else. Do you know how many times I had to beg just like that for a job after Angelo left?"

"I know. Thank you, Mom. I mean it, I won't let you down." Daphne wiped away tears from her cheek.

"Come here, honey!" Regina brought her into a hug. "Come on," She pulled away. "I'll show you the ropes."

Regina showed Daphne how to work the register, gave her a rundown of the menu, and taught her how to make the most commonly ordered items. By the end of the day, she was exhausted. She stood behind the counter manning the coffee machine and failing to remember how to make the seasonal specials. She saw a reflected glare dance on the wall in front of her. She turned around to see Emmett, his face and hands stained with grease. "You're early!" Her eyes widened.

"No…" He pulled out his phone to show her the time. "It's five-thirty, just like we said."

"Oh." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sorry, I'm a bit frazzled."

"Long day?" He leaned against the counter.

"Oh, you know. Coffee I can't drink, prices I can't remember, recipes I can't make. I can't believe it!" She threw up her hands. "I worked in a kitchen, at a restaurant! I've been cooking since I could see over the counter! How am I so bad at this!?"

"Pregnancy brain?" Emmett shrugged.

"Maybe." Daphne rested her elbows on the counter and put her face in her hands. "Ugh…" Out the corner of her eye, she saw her mom leaving the office. "Anyways," She shot up. "Welcome to the Cracked Mug! What can I get you today?" She signed cheerfully.

"Uh…" Emmett looked at the menu. A devious grin grew on his face as he thought of the perfect order. "I'll have a Caramel Macchiato, Venti, Skim, Extra Shot, Extra-Hot, Extra-Whip, Sugar-Free."

"Oh, you son of a bitch!" She quickly signed while Regina was distracted. "Alright, that'll be right out for you. Just one moment." She turned around and did her best to prepare the most high maintenance order she'd ever heard of. She did her best and handed him a to-go cup of prissy-lava-water. "That'll be five ninety-nine, please." She smiled.

"Oh no," Regina waved her hand as she walked over. "This one's on the house! Hi Emmett, how's the new job?"

"Eh," He shrugged. "Not too bad. My boss is alright, the customers suck. Mostly biker gang meatheads."

"Well, it puts food on the table, right?" Regina signed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Hey, speaking of that…" Emmett pulled out a slip of paper from his back pocket. "Today was my first payday!"

"Eighteen thousand and a hundred and ninety-eight dollars!? Holy shit!" Daphne grabbed the check from him.

"It's not that much." He rubbed the back of his head.

"It's more than I make." She said towards Regina.

"Hey, you get paid as much as everyone else around here!" Regina said.

"I know, and I'm grateful. But it isn't anywhere near eighteen thousand a week!" She handed him back the check.

"Anyways, you ready?" Emmett asked. Daphne looked towards her mother.

"Yeah, sure." She nodded. "Go relax, you've earned it!" Daphne ran over and gave her mom a hug before leaving with Emmett. The two got in Daphne's car. Emmett put the drink down in a cup holder. "Uh-uh!" Daphne signed. "You're gonna drink that whole thing and I'm gonna watch you do it." Emmett took a hesitant sip before recoiling.

"Too hot!" He signed.

"You ordered it that way..." She shook her head.

"Baby, please!" He signed. "I was just kidding. There's no way I can drink this all right here!"

"Fine, but you're going to by the end of the night or I'm kicking you out of your own bed!" She pointed a threatening finger at him.


	8. E2C3

**Author's note: For some reason the document manager didn't like this one. Sorry if the format's weird.**

Later that night, Emmett and Daphne laid in bed together. Daphne was fast asleep at Emmett's side but he couldn't sleep. It might have been due to the coffee he'd been force fed but his thoughts raced through his head relentlessly. With no sign of sleep in sight, he turned his attention to the slumbering body curled up next to him. He watched her shoulders rise and fall as she breathed. She looked pretty in the soft glow of the streetlamp coming through his window. "Is this creepy?" He thought to himself. "Probably." He replied as he looked up at the ceiling. He thought back to the day he first realized he had feelings for her. It was in the third grade and Emmett was walking home from school. He and his mom had worked out a plan that he'd walk half way and she'd pick him up and drive him the other half. This way he felt more independent and got some much-needed exercise. Unannounced to him, however, Melody would follow closely behind him until they reached the final block where they were to meet. Emmett walked past the hearing school as he did every day, however, this day was different. Out on the playground was a girl with long orange hair shooting free throws at the basketball hoop. He stopped for a moment to watch her. She paused for a quick breath and brushed her hair behind her ears. Emmett saw two hot pink hearing aids sitting on either ear. "She's deaf!" He thought. He was about to go over and introduce himself when a group of three girls walked over to her. The large girl at the head of the group said something as she approached her. The red-haired girl retorted, holding her ball defensively. The big girl walked up and snatched it from her, along with one of her hearing aids. The girl jumped to reach her hearing aid as her bully held it in the air. Emmett walked over. "Hey!" He hollered. He wasn't used to his voice, but it resonated firmly in his chest, he imagined it sounding confident. "Give it back!" Apparently, the bullies didn't seem to think so.

"Who's this, your boyfriend?" The big girl mocked the deaf girl.

"I said give it back!" He repeated.

"You gonna make me, deafy?" The girl got in his face. He stomped on her foot, causing her to recoil in pain. "You're gonna pay for that!" She hissed. She winded back, about to throw a punch, when they're attention was brought to the sidewalk.

"Hey!" Melody said. Her accent was as bad as Emmett but she had age and authority on her side. "You girls think it's funny to pick on Deaf kids?"

"No- no, miss. We was just-" The larger girl said.

"What do you have there?" She pointed to the girls balled up fist. She opened it to reveal the hot pink hearing aid. Its battery had fallen out under the force of her grip. "Give it here." Melody gestured forcefully. The recess aid walked towards them.

"What's going on here?" The woman asked. Melody explained the situation.

"Mom," Emmett tugged on her jacket. "What's she saying?" Melody interpreted for him as best she could.

"Is this true, Minerva?" The woman asked. "Did you steal Daphne's hearing aid?"

"Yes, ma'am." The big girl bowed her head.

"Well, are you going to give it back to her?" The woman asked in a sort of question meant as a command. Minerva begrudgingly handed back the hearing aid. "And what do you say?"

"I'm sorry." She groaned.

"Sorry what?"

"I'm sorry I stole your hearing aid, Daphne." The woman told Minerva to head back inside and wait for her there. She thanked Melody for intervening and was about to leave before Melody spoke.

"Actually, can I talk to the girl's principal? I have a couple questions." The woman agreed and Melody walked with her into the school, leaving Emmett and Daphne alone.

Emmett grabbed a piece of sidewalk chalk out of his pocket. "Your names daphne right?" He wrote on the blacktop in front of them. She nodded. He smiled. "My names Emmet. Im deaf like you."

"Im not def. I jest cant heer." Daphne wrote in response.

"That's what deaf means." He explained. "Me you my mom, we all cant here. But thats ok, it makes us different. And differents good."

"Mini thinx it makes me dum."

"I don't. I think your cool."

"I thinc u r 2" They smiled at each other.

Daphne stirred in bed as she slowly woke up. She flipped on the lamp that sat on the bedside table. "Are you awake?" She asked.

"Yeah." Emmett signed, his arm under his head.

"What are you doing?"

"Thinking about you." He smiled.

"Good things, I hope." She nuzzled up to him.

"Yeah. I was remembering the time we met."

"Hey, I remember that." She smiled. "Back when I had those hot pink hearing aids." She laughed. "Hey, remember when I had that pair that was construction cone orange?"

"'Deaf and proud' I told you."

"Yeah, my mom liked that. I knew that really it was cause they were all they had left."

"You know what." Emmett rolled over and rifled through his bedside drawer. He pulled out a small tin box. Inside was a half used piece of sidewalk chalk and a broken hot pink hearing aid missing its battery.

"I can't believe you kept it!" She quirked.

"Why wouldn't I? It'll always remind me of when I met my best friend."

"Is that all I am?" She smirked.

"No!" He laughed. "No, now you're much, much more." They kissed each other and shortly both fell back asleep.

In the morning, Emmett headed off to work. They'd agreed that after they got off they'd look for apartments. Daphne came downstairs to find Melody hadn't left yet. "Hey, what are you still doing here?" Melody looked at her puzzled.

"Oh," She looked down at her watch. "Slow morning." She was dressed in professional attire. "I've got a board meeting later today and I wanted to be ready for it." She took a final bite of a waffle. "By the way. Gabe and I were looking around last night and we made a list of couples we found wanting to adopt a new baby. I was thinking you and Emmett could take a look sometime. You know, consider your options." She handed her the list. For a moment all she could do was stare at her, dumbfounded.

"Melody…" She began. "You know Emmett and I have made our decision. We're raising this baby whether you guys like it or not!"

"Have you really considered it though, Daphne. It's like I said, raising a baby is a lot of work and it can put a lot of strain on your relationship. Now, you two have been friends for a long time but your romance is considerably young. I just feel like if you rush into things you're going to regret it down the line, both of you."

"We're going to regret our daughter?" Her eyes widened, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Okay," She put her hands out in front of her. "Maybe I misspoke. But…" She sighed. "Have you thought about what you're going to do? It's not going to stay a baby forever. What are you going to do about school, college? If it's Deaf are you going to pay for speech therapy?"

"Woah, woah! Slow down there! We have years before we have to worry about that."

"It's still something you should think about. Parenting isn't always a one-day-at-a-time game. Kids grow up before you know it."

"What's with you? I remember you and Gabe were devastated when the adoption fell through, now you're going to have a granddaughter to coo over."

"I'm only thinking about what's best for my son."

"Well, maybe he can decide that for himself. You know, I was going to ask for a ride but- No, I'll drive myself to work. I can't believe this…" She stormed out of the house before slamming the door. Once in the car, she crumpled the paper and threw it onto her passenger seat before heading to The Cracked Mug.

Once in the parking lot, she paused for a minute. She needed to calm down after the morning's altercation. She saw the ball of paper out of the corner of her eye. She sighed as she uncrumpled it. She read the first names on the list. Charlie and Abbie Boston. She pulled out her phone to look them up. They were a married couple in their early thirties. He worked as a graphic designer and she worked in marketing. Apparently, she'd had ovarian cancer a few years prior but they'd always wanted kids. They knew ASL, they had family that was Deaf. She looked at their names on the list again, her hand on her stomach. "I...couldn't get rid of you. But they sound nice…" She opened her sun visor and pulled out a copy of the sonogram. She smiled, but her eyes started to burn with tears. "I just...can't." She was startled by a knock on her window, it was Regina. She'd been sitting in the car for longer than she thought. She shoved the small sonogram into her pocket and the paper into her glovebox. "Sorry, I got in a fight with Melody this morning and I just lost track of time." She hurried out of the car.

"A fight with Melody? About what? What were you reading?" Regina asked.

"Nothing," Daphne wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "It was nothing. Come on, I'll start my shift. The customers are probably thirsty."


End file.
